Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Alabama Leads for JC Guard, Algie Key

2-time JC All-American, Algie Key had an official visit to Alabama this past weekend. The visit obviously went well as the 6-4, 170 lb combo guard from Barton Community College (that's in Kansas, ya'll) currently lists Alabama as the leader for his signature.

Key averaged 17.6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists this past season at Barton. The consensus opinion on him from the recruiting nerds is that he is a "slasher/distributor" type player with a good mid-range game. The perimeter game could use some work though (only 5-34 from 3-pt this past season). Key set the Barton record for free throws attempted and made so he obviously knows how to get to the line. His 6 boards a game also suggests that he isn't afraid to mix it up with the big guys in the paint. Assist to turnover ratio was 2:1 and he averaged just under 2 steals per game. He looks capable of playing anywhere from the 1-3 spot on the floor depending on the situation. Seems like he would be a good fit for Grant's system.

Key, a Georgia native, still plans to take a visit to UGA this weekend, but he's been quoted as saying he could make a decision as early as this week if he decides not to take the Georgia visit. He also mentioned that Grant told him he was the number one priority at the moment. That could mean the Jaren Sina ship has sailed. We will have to see.

9 comments:

DJC
said...

Scout is reporting he has cancelled his visit to UGA and committed to the Tide! I suspect that is it for this class unless we can find a big. I would like to have Sina, but not sure what we would do with another guard at this point.

Ah, cool. Very good news. Looks like Grant left a good impression: "I talked to Coach Grant at the end of my visit and I just really liked everything he had to say about Alabama and the direction that program is going. I went home and talked to my parents about it and we all agreed it was time for me to commit."

Yes, I would like to have Sina on board as well. I suppose it could still work. Sina is a guy who might need a year or so of seasoning before he was ready to be a consistent performer so I don't know how many minutes he would get in his first year, whereas Key should be ready to come in and play immediately. If Alabama does not sign Sina, a commitment from Justin Coleman in the 2014 class will become extremely important.

Grant didn't process anybody. Moussa asked to be released. Moussa was going to take a cut in minutes last season and he didn't want to deal with that so he decided to leave. I thought this was covered in the earlier post about Moussa? Did you read it?

I read some wonderful comments about Algie from one of the Barton assistants, Matt Hundley.

"He loved Alabama and the family atmosphere. He said it was a place where he loved the coaching staff and how all of the kids are together. He hung around the players a lot and just really enjoyed them and fit in well. Of course, the facilities are great and the school is great too, but he really likes the atmosphere there.”

“He brings speed, athleticism, he can be an elite defender and he led us in scoring for two years as well. He can bring some offensive punch either as a starter or coming off of the bench and he is a tremendous kid off of the court as well and with the family-oriented program they have at Alabama he will be a great fit.”

"He is a great kid. I don’t want to say he is not a typical JUCO kid, because we feel like there are a lot of good kids in the JUCO ranks, but he really is a great kid. He helps with community service and has never been in trouble. He is a very high character kid, who wants to do the best for his team and work hard to achieve the goals he has set for himself.”